The Other bow I'm working on

[DesM8]

I'm also in the early stages of my second hickory flatbow.  The stave is 68", so it'll be a little less nock to nock.  1-1/2" wide limbs, tapered to ~1/2" starting 12" from the tips.  There are a couple potential problem areas in the pictures.  The hollow/junky knot near the fade wasn't visible till I started removing wood. There's still more wood to remove there, so maybe most of it will be taken out by the end of the process...  If not, should I remove the junk and fill with CA/sawdust or epoxy? The remnants of the knot right at the edge of the limb further down may also look better after more belly removal, but I'm worried the grain there may end up in a fracture?

[Pat B]

Just fill that knot with super glue. If it's hollow you may want to sprinkle a little fine saw dust in it along with the super glue but do it in layers...and watch out for the fumes. It will smoke when you do this.
Generally speaking knots in the belly aren't much of a problem especially that near the fades.

[DesM8]

Awesome, that's usually what I do on other stuff just for cosmetic purposes.  Good to know I don't have to go out and get some epoxy, I don't think I have any at the moment.  It was more hollow early on in the removal, but I seem to be getting down to some punky wood now.  I'll definitely stabilize it with the super glue/sawdust regardless.

How about the one on the edge of the limb though?  The way it looks from the side profile, maybe it'll be ok once its thinned down some more?

Its probably worth noting neither of these come out on the back, there's just a bit of bulge but no actual knot.

[Pat B]

I put a drop of super glue on most knots, back and belly. Knots on the edge of a limb can be a problem unless you keep enough wood around them to reduce the strains around them.

[Mo_coon-catcher]

I second what Pat said.
Those knots don't look bad at all. Put some super glue in that one by the handle to stabilize it. Which I don't think is even necessary for that one. You could scrape out any soft stuff, round the edges and I'd wager it would give you no problems at all. The other knot doesn't look like any problem at all. Especially hickory. If the grain swirled around a knot that comes through the back, you'll want to follow that swirl around the knot. If the knot comes out the side of the limb and it's solid, you can act like it's not even there.


Like Pat said with the super glue and sawdust. When you start layering and packing it will get hot and start to smoke. The deeper the hole and more you pack it the more smoke it'll roll. I like to use contrasting materials in the holes. I'll use horn, antler, blood wood, ebony. Essentially whatever I think will look neat.

Kyle

[Buggs]

I don't know if there is any wood more forgiving than Hickory. I made a bow from an crappy piece of Hickory lumber that was a cabinet trim reject, just for a fun experiment. It had knots all over it and severe runout to one side. The back had so many rings showing, it looked like the belly side. It took some horrible set, but it would not break. Amazing wood.

[DesM8]

Thanks guys, definitely makes me feel more confident I'm not wasting my time on this one    I tried to lay it out so I avoided that side knot, but it came out a little closer than I was comfortable with.  That knot made the layout a pain because there was a compound bend in the wood there, some deflex and bend to the side.  I was tryin to follow the grain (side to side) there as best I could though.  I'd already heated that out when I took those pics, and I think it came out pretty well.  The back of this one came out very clean after the bark removal.

I plan on putting this bow on a gentle backset form and toasting the whole thing.  Hopefully this will help dry it fully and combat set, and also give a bit of a performance boost.  I've seen good results from this in a couple videos and figured it looked like it was worth a shot.

[DesM8]

Here's the mild backset form I made for this bow (and likely others).  It only curves down to 2" on each side over 7ft, so for most bows it'll end up being less than that, especially after spring back.  Not too aggressive I don't think?  My goal isn't to add a massive amount of reflex or anything, I mostly made this to toast the belly on this hickory bow.  From what I've read/seen it seemed like a little backset during this process might help combat set and increase performance. Anyone have experience with this they'd like to share?

[Pat B]

 

[simk]

Everything you write and do is correct.
Little detail: imho it's best to have the reflex gradually increasing towards the outers. Too much reflex in the 1st 3rd will force you into a whip-tiller. That's also why I dont like a lot of setback in the handle.
Cheers

[DesM8]

After a long hiatus from this bow I'm finally back at it! 

Got the handle mostly carved out today and got it to full brace.  Still working out some kinks in the tillering but hopefully I'll have it done tomorrow.  If anyone spots and glaring issues with either the handle/arrow rest shape, or the tiller let me know! 

I think I've got to work on the outers and inners a little more... it seems like I'm starting to bend a bit much in the mid-limbs now.

64" NTN Hickory, Limbs 1-1/2" - Currently drawing 50# at 23"... Goal is 50# at 28"

[Pat B]

Be sure all edges are rounded. You might take a scrape or 2 from the outer limbs leaving the last 6" straight. Bring the bend back into the handle, top and bottom but not too much. Otherwise she looks good. 

[DesM8]

Thanks Pat!  That helps to confirm what I thought I should probably work on next...  Its definitely still stiff near the handle, I've been leery of taking off too much near the knots but I think I'll just have to start scraping   

I've got about an 1/8" round over on things now, do you think I should go heavier than that?

[Pat B]

That should be enough round over. Square edges can be deadly to a wood bow.